Lamp housing structure

ABSTRACT

A lamp housing structure based upon a transparent cover of a household aquarium or like housing and comprising similar end caps of plastic material formed at their lower ends with grooves into which the opposite ends of said cover are frictionally fitted to, thereby, support and retain said caps in fixed relative position, and a sheet metal housing of inverted Usection having its ends telescopically and frictionally fitted into inwardly facing grooves in said caps, one or both said caps being provided with a fitting for a lamp that is enclosed by the housing and provides illumination for the interior of the aquarium.

United States Patent Louis 51 July 11,1972

[52] US. Cl. ..240/41.5, 240/2 LC, 240/6, 240/52, 240/103 B [51] Int. Cl..F2lv 17/00 [58] Field of Search ..240/2 R, 2 AD, 2 LC, 4,6, 240/10 R,36, 41.5, 41.55, 52 R, 52.6,103 B; 119/5 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Sherman ..1 19/5 2,451,157 10/1948 Dike ..240/103 BPrimary Examiner-Joseph F. Peters Attorney-Hyman Jackman 57 ABSTRACT Alamp housing structure based upon a transparent cover of a householdaquarium or like housing and comprising similar end caps of plasticmaterial formed at their lower ends with grooves into which the oppositeends of said cover are frictionally fitted to, thereby, support andretain said caps in fixed relative position, and a sheet metal housingof inverted U'section having its ends telescopically and frictionallyfitted into inwardly facing grooves in said caps, one or both said capsbeing provided with a fitting for a lamp that is enclosed by the housingand provides illumination for the interior of the aquarium.

4 Claims, 3Drawing Figures LAMP HOUSING STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention For lighting structures mounted onopen-topped containers covered by transparent lids or closures, forilluminating the interiors of such enclosures.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is common to mount a lamp housing onan aquarium cover for illuminating the interior thereof. Such housings,usually, are unitary devices. Some of the following U.S. Pat. Nos. arerepresentative of such devices:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention combines a transparent panelserving as a base or support and having opposite parallel edges, twolampmounting end caps of plastic or other non-metallic compositionhaving telescopic and position-retention engagement with said edges andin aligned, opposed relation, the inner faces of said caps beinggrooved, and a sheet metal housing with its ends engaged in thementioned grooves and spanning between them to cover the lamps.

An object of the invention is to provide a combined lamp housing andsupport therefor that is adapted for simple knockdown assembly andadapted to retain such assembly without the need for fasteners.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined housing andsupport, as above characterized, the elements of which are adapted to becompactly packaged, shipped and stored. 1

This invention also has for its object to provide such means that arepositive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a workingposition and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture,relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear inthe course of the following description, which is based on theaccompanying drawing. However, said drawing merely shows, and thefollowing specification merely describes preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, which are given by way of illustration or exampleonly.

In the drawing, like reference characters designate similar parts in theseveral views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a foreshortened view showingthe present lamp housing structure partly in side elevation and partlyin vertical section.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one end of the structure and showing thecomponents thereof separated one from the other.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of a modification of one of the end caps ofthe structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A household aquarium 5, shownin FIG. 1, is provided with a transparent top of lid 6. The latter maybe removable, at least in part, to afford access, through the open topof the aquarium, to the interior thereof for servicing. In the presentcase, said top 6 has its opposite ends 7 extended beyond the ends of theaquarium which is intended as representative of any similar container,preferably rectangular, but not necessarily so.

The present structure comprises, in combination, said cover 6 serving asa base plate for the structure, two similar end caps 8 engaged with theopposite ends 7 of said cover, one or both of which is provided with asocket fixture 9 for a lamp 10, preferably of the electric dischargetype, containing neon gas,

10 flanges l3 and a top flange 14. As seen best in FIG. I, the

respective flanges l3 and 14 of the two caps 8 are directed toward eachother.

Within and slightly inwardly spaced from the respective flanges 13 and14 of each cap, side inner flanges l5 and an upper flange l6 cooperaterespectively with the peripheral flanges l3 and 14 to form grooves 17,clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The lower ends of the inner side flanges may be unconnected, as in FIG.3, or they may be connected by a bottom flange 18. The flanges l3 and 14may be narrower than the respective flanges 15 and 16, as best seen inFIGS. 1 and 2, the extending portions of the flanges l5 and 16 providinglead-in surfaces for guiding the ends of the housing member 11 into thegrooves 17.

Along the lower edge of the wall 12 of each cap and below the lower endof the flanges 15 or the flange 18, the wall 12 is extended as at 19 fora distance equal to the thickness of the top or lid 6, or in any case,the thickness of the end 7 thereof. Along the lower edge of saidextension 19, a horizontal flange 20 cooperates with the lower edges ofthe flanges I3 and 15 or with the bottom flange 18, if one is provided,to form a groove 21 that receives the end 7 of the cover or lid 6.

It will be seen that the cover 6 serves to locate the two caps 8 inspaced relation, the flanges l8 and 20 thereof, by frictional engagementwith the cover ends 7, holding each respective cap 8 in proper verticalposition on the ends 7 of the cover.

The housing member 11 is preferably formed of sheet metal and into theshape conforming to the grooves 17. Thus, the member 11 is formed as aninverted U having sides 22 connected to a top 23, the former beingenterable into the groove defined between the flanges I3 and I5 and thelatter between the flanges l4 and 16. The length of the member 11 isdetermined by the spacing of the caps from each other.

The bottom of member 11 being open, the light generated by a lamp orlamps 10 carried by the end caps 8 will illuminate the interior of thetank 5 through the transparent cover 6.

It is contemplated that the housing 11 may be packaged with two end caps8 and with the housing 11 either bent to the above described form or inflat condition with score or like lines to guide bending along thecomers 24. The gauge of metal used for the housing may be quite thin soit may readily be cut to the desired length according to the lengthdesired for the cover 6. The latter may serve as a guide to which thesheet metal, of which the housing 11 is fonned, may be cut to length.

The housing components may have other cross-sectional shape. Instead ofthe square shape shown, the same may have upwardly converging sides orbe half-round, the grooves I7 and the peripheral form of the capsconforming. I

Assembly does not require tools of any sort, it being necessary only tomount one cap, fitted with a lamp 10, onto one end 7 of the cover, slipan end of the housing 11 into the grooves 17 of said cap, and then fitthe second cap onto the opposite end 7 of said cover whiletelescopically engaging the opposite end of the housing into the grooves17 of the latter cap. The friction among the components will retain themin position on the cover 6.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what are nowcontemplated to be the best mode of carrying out the invention, theconstructions. are, of course, subject to modification without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A lamp housing structure comprising, in combination: a transparentbase plate, two end caps, each of said caps comprising lower portionsforming a transverse groove, said base plate having opposite ends thatextend into the grooves of the respective end caps, said end capsextending upwardly from the portions thereof having the transversegrooves, said end caps being in opposed and aligned relation, and anelongated housing member extending between said end caps with its endsfrictionally engaged with said caps, said end caps, housing member, andthe portion of the transparent base member beneath the housing memberbeing adapted to enclose a lamp and such lamp being adapted to directits light downwardly through said mentioned portion of the base plate.2. A lamp housing structure according to claim 1 in which each cap,around its side and top peripheral edges, is provided with pairs ofparallel flanges that define grooves into which the opposite ends of thelamp-housing member are frictionally engaged, the outer flange of eachpair being narrower than the flange that is parallel with it to providelead-in surfaces for guiding insertion of the ends of the housing intosaid grooves.

3. A lamp housing structure according to claim 1 in which the end capsare formed of non-metallic material and having grooves in the upwardlyextending portions into which the opposite ends of the housing memberare frictionally engaged.

4. A lamp housing structure according to claim 3 in which the housingmember is formed of sheet metal bent to have a U- shaped cross-sectionalform, and the grooves in the upwardly extending portions of the end capsbeing shaped to conform to the U-shape of the housing member, the openside of the U- shaped housing member facing the transparent base plateto pass the light of the lamp to and through the base plate.

i k i l

1. A lamp housing structure comprising, in combination: a transparentbase plate, two end caps, each of said caps comprising lower portionsforming a transverse groove, said base plate having opposite ends thatextend into the grooves of the respective end caps, said end capsextending upwardly from the portions thereof having the transversegrooves, said end caps being in opposed and aligned relation, and anelongated housing member extending between said end caps with its endsfrictionally engaged with said caps, said end caps, housing member, andthe portion of the transparent base member beneath the housing memberbeing adapted to enclose a lamp and such lamp being adapted to directits light downwardly through said mentioned portion of the base plate.2. A lamp housing structure according to claim 1 in which each cap,around its side and top peripheral edges, is provided with pairs ofparallel flanges that define grooves into which the opposite ends of thelamp-housing member are frictionally engaged, the outer flange of eachpair being narrower than the flange that is parallel with it to providelead-in surfaces for guiding insertion of the ends of the housing intosaid grooves.
 3. A lamp housing structure according to claim 1 in whichthe end caps are formed of non-metallic material and having grooves inthe upwardly extending portions into which the opposite ends of thehousing member are frictionally engaged.
 4. A lamp housing structureaccording to claim 3 in which the housing member is formed of sheetmetal bent to have a U-shaped cross-sectional form, and the grooves inthe upwardly extending portions of the end caps being shaped to conformto the U-shape of the housing member, the open side of the U-shapedhousing member facing the transparent base plate to pass the light ofthe lamp to and through the base plate.